Oral history interview with James A. (Jimmy Gay) Gay III conducted by Joyce M. Wright in 1973 for the Ralph Roske Oral History Project on Early Las Vegas. In this interview, Gay recalls details about his education in Arkansas and his training in mortuary science in Chicago, Illinois and discusses the nine-year delay in obtaining his license to practice as a mortician in Nevada because of racial discrimination. He recounts his move to Las Vegas, Nevada in 1946, his experiences as a recreation director and as a personnel and communications director for the hotel industry, work that he took while waiting for his licensure to practice. He also talks about his career as a mortician with Palm Mortuary in Las Vegas, the atomic testing of the 1950s and 1960s, and his long involvement with the NAACP and the Freedom Fund. He closes by reciting two poems that have inspired him and express his philosophy.
Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American & Pacific Islander Web Archive is comprised of archived websites captured in 2022 and 2023 that are related to UNLV University Libraries community documentation project, "Reflections: The Las Vegas Asian American & Pacific Islander Oral History Project." Archived websites represent local Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) civic and service organizations and individuals that have been interviewed as part of the oral history project. The collection includes archived websites of organizations such as the Las Vegas Asian Chamber of Commerce, the Asian-American Advocacy Clinic, Asian Community Development Council, and Thai Culture Foundation. Archived websites of individuals represented in this collection includes entrepreneur, real estate investor, and motivational speaker Lisa Song Sutton and magician Juliana Chen.